…a boomer muses about life, change, joys, sorrows and freedom from the prison of corporate life.

Thanks, Government…For Nothing!

Lately it seems I’ve been bombarded with articles that illustrate the negative repercussions of our present administration. And two of them really struck home with me.

According to the Associated Press on Sunday, “The new health care law wasn’t supposed to undercut employer plans that have provided most people in the United States with coverage for generations.

But last week a leading manufacturer told workers their costs will jump partly because of the law. Also, A Democratic governor laid out a scheme for employers to get out of health care by shifting workers into taxpayer-subsidized insurance markets that open in 2014.

‘The economics of dropping existing coverage is about to become very attractive to many employers, both public and private,’ said Governor Phil Bredsen, D-Tenn.”

When I took early retirement, I was, for the first time, faced with paying a sizable premium for my employer-provided retiree health care plan. And, since I’m not yet eligible for Medicare, I’ve kept a wary eye on those premiums as they’ve gone up every year. But, although it’s a hefty premium, it’s a lot less than I would pay if I had to get insurance as an individual. And I’ve realized that we retirees are really lucky that our old company provides us this plan at all. Now with Obama-Care, they will actually have an incentive to throw us to the dogs! Fortunately, shortly after I read this article, I received the insurance plan for 2011 from my old company. I tore it open, fearing a premium increase of $100 or more, only to find that it was only $21. But, as you know, “the devil is in the details.” And the details here I soon discovered were that they were raising our deductible from $350 this year to $500. At the rate things are going, how long is it going to take for really poor people to have to simply drop insurance because they can’t afford it? Oh, but I forgot! If you don’t have insurance, Obama’s health care plan will fine you. What better way to get poor people to “jump” than to charge them money for not having money? Don’t even get me started.

The other article, also from the Associated Press – “The days of free checking are ending. One new account at Bank of America charges $8.95 a month if you want to bank with a teller or get paper statements.” (How petty is that?)

It’s happening because a raft of new laws enacted in the past year, including the financial overhaul package, have led to an acute shrinking of revenue for banks, so they’re making a profit wherever they can. Didn’t the government anticipate something like this? Or did they just not care?

Personally, I seldom have to see a teller for anything. And I could print my bank statements up myself, but I figure, why not let them use their paper rather than mine? After all, they’re making interest on everything I’ve invested. And I do write checks. Yes, I’m the last of a dying breed. But still, it’s my right and I shouldn’t have to pay extra for the fact that I prefer to pay with cash rather than credit or debit. Thank goodness I dropped Bank of America years ago when I experienced many errors and terrible customer service. I went with a credit union which I love and which, according to the article, might maintain free checking as a way to siphon customers from the big banks.

But, what about the gray-haired, rosy-cheeked little old ladies and men who aren’t comfortable with computers and ATM’s? These people probably have a ritual of going into the bank and visiting with the tellers. They’ve been banking like that for generations. Now they will have to pay for the privilege?

All I’m saying is that our present government seems to be making things a lot harder for the average person and I don’t think they care a damned bit! They’re so busy trying to be rock stars that they’ve forgotten that they’re supposed to be OUR servants.

I guess what I want to say is – stop and think hard and long about what’s happening and then go out and vote on Tuesday. You couldn’t make things any worse.

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And think about this…our current government is JUST GETTING STARTED! They have two more years, and then they want 4 more years. It ain’t gonna happen. But, repairing the dammage that’s already happened is going to be very, very difficult. Oh, and one more thing, no matter what happens in next week’s election, our taxes are going up Jan. 1st. So, expect a smaller retirement check in January. Sigh.

I’ve heard multiple stories of employer-plan-backlash, unfortunately. One local employer (casino) told everyone abruptly one day that they’d all be going to part time status, despite the company’s very high regard for them. They said that it was about money, they couldn’t afford it, and they could thank the president they voted in. Ouch.

That, and my husband’s lovely government employer has said that while they hope to decide on an insurance company by November, what the corresponding insurance PREMIUMS will be is up in the air until at least January. ……So, go ahead and sign up for us instead of your spouse’s plan, and hey, we’ll try to promise not to maybe make the premiums insane once you’re locked in for, get this, 18 months.